School Programs

Each year the Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich hosts thousands of
students and teachers at Bush-Holley House, the centerpiece of our beautiful
historic site on Cos Cob Harbor. Our interactive, inquiry-based programs give
students the opportunity to creatively explore topics and sharpen their
critical thinking skills. Each experience is specially designed to complement
classroom teaching while providing students and teachers a memorable day full
of fun and discovery. Our programs cover topics such as colonial American
history, the American Revolution, slavery in the North, the Industrial Age, and
the development of American Impressionism. All programs meet state curriculum
standards for both Connecticut and New York. Please contact us at 203-869-6899
to discuss how we can tailor our programs to meet your specific needs!

Life in Colonial New England

Recommended for grades K–2
Students experience how early New England colonists lived, worked and
entertained themselves on an interactive tour of the c.1730 Bush-Holley House,
combined with a lively session of hands-on discovery featuring colonial
costumes and games.Click here to download teacher materials.

Sarah and Her Town

Recommended for grades 3 – 4
Students relive the dramatic events that shaped the lives of the members of the
colonial Bush family in the Bush-Holley House. Using reproduction objects,
students become history detectives to determine the identity of historic
artifacts that Sarah Bush and her family likely used. Pre-visit activity
booklet available. Click here to download teacher materials.

Patriots vs. Loyalists: The American
Revolution

Recommended for grades 5 –
8
Cast in the role of Loyalist or Patriot, students debate the issues and events
that led to the start of the American Revolution. They visit the Bush-Holley
House to learn how the Revolution affected the colonial Bush family. Then
students participate in secret meetings using primary source documents to
prepare an argument to support their position. A curator's presentation of
Revolutionary War artifacts is also included. The program concludes with a
lively full-class debate.Click here to download teacher materials.

Create Your Own
Impression

All Grades
Students are inspired by the beauty of Bush-Holley House and the surrounding
landscape like many American Impressionist artists who visited the site. They
investigate the dynamics between art and history as they search for visual
clues in the artwork to learn about life at the turn of the century. Following
a tour of the art colony rooms, students use paint, palette and canvas to
create their own Impressionist painting.Click here to download teacher materials.

Meeting People in
Portraits

All Grades
Students view and discuss the collection of portraits in the Bush-Holley House.
Afterward they will identify artistic techniques and characteristics including
pose, expression, gesture and symbolic props to develop their interpretation of
the individual. Students will then work in groups to write an interview
involving one of the subjects.Click here to download teacher materials.

Schedule Your Visit Today

School programs are scheduled Tuesdays–Fridays starting at 10:00 am and
12:00 noon. Each program runs 1½ hours. Groups of up to 50 students can be
accommodated at one time. One adult chaperone is required for every 10
students. Program fees are $5 per student. Teachers and adult chaperones attend
programs for free. To book one of our exciting programs, call 203-869-6899.

Partnership with Hamilton
Avenue School

Since 2009, the Historical Society has nurtured a close partnership with
Hamilton Avenue School, a Title One magnet school in Chickahominy where more
than half of the students are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunches. The
program, which includes the first through the fifth grades, gives students an
opportunity to visit Bush-Holley Historic Site each year to learn about local
history, develop an appreciation for art and build a foundation for lifelong
learning.

As part of the partnership, working artists and educators conduct classroom
workshops at the school to further explore topics touched upon during site
visits. For first- and second-graders, a tour of Bush-Holley House helps the
school meet curriculum
requirements for art and history, including a trip to a museum and historic
site. Third-graders study the House’s colonial period and create quilt squares
to reflect what they’ve seen and learned. Fourth-graders pay particular
attention to the portraits, especially those created by Cos Cob artists, and
explore what they represent before drawing their own images. Fifth-graders
train as junior docents, becoming experts on the portraits in a particular
room, and then they help the fourth-graders relate to the paintings and the
techniques used to create them. At the end of the school year, the
third- through fifth-grade students and their families come to a
reception at the Historic Site to see an exhibition of the students’ work and
take junior-docent-led tours of Bush-Holley House.

Each year the program touches the lives of nearly every student at Hamilton
Avenue School. To celebrate the fifth year of this partnership with Hamilton
Avenue School, thirteen quilts made by the third grade classes from 2010 to
2013 will be on exhibition along with a quilt from the Greenwich Historical
Society, Glenville 1756-1976, made by Mary C. Adams, who at the age of
71 pieced a quilt reflecting the history of Glenville.